Free Jazz), ensemble sections alternate with solos, which take up about equal space. According to Shepp, "Free Jazz created a new form, and Ascension is a further step in the development of that form". Shepp also noted the influence of Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor on the recording, and concluded: "The precedent for what John did here goes all the way back to New Orleans... This is like a New Orleans concept, but with 1965 people". (Sun Ra's influence on Ascension was also suggested by Coltrane biographer J. C. Thomas, and by Val Wilmer, who pointed out that Coltrane was exposed to Sun Ra's music through his friendship with John Gilmore.) Structurally, Ascension is organized around a succession of modes which serve as starting points for the musicians. Ekkehard Jost identified three modes: B Aeolian, D Phrygian, and F Phrygian, while David Such added a fourth, G Lydian. Changes of mode were signalled by Coltrane, Hubbard, and Tyner. The melodic germ of Ascension is a short motif which resembles the main theme of A Love Supreme'''s "Acknowledgment" section; however, this motif is secondary in importance to the presence of descending lines which serve to define and articulate the modes. Jost noted that, in contrast with Free Jazz, "the central idea is not to produce a network of interwoven independent melodic lines, but dense sound complexes." He explained: "a large number of rhythmically independent lines are set against one another by seven wind instruments, with the resultant overlappings. This superimposition produces rapidly moving sound-fields whose rhythmic differentiation is provided as a rule by the rhythm section, rather than coming from within. When seven independent melodic-rhythmic lines coincide, the relationships between them lose clarity, fusing into a field of sound enlivened by irregular accentuations." Jost summarized this as follows: "A new type of group improvisation emerges in which melodic-motivic evolution gives way to the moulding of a total sound... the macro-structures of the total sound are more important than the micro-structure of the parts." Similarly, Such wrote: "The overall texture in the collectively improvised sections of Ascension is extremely dense. As a result, the listener has difficulty separating the individual lines of the seven improvisers. In comparison, the three lead soloists in Coleman's Free Jazz remain distinguishable." Shepp's comments are in agreement: "The emphasis was on textures rather than the making of an organizational entity. There was unity, but it was a